The health impact of air quality has recently become an emerging issue. Many regions, especially densely populated regions, have deteriorating air quality. The primary source of pollution in Poland is the municipal sector. Air pollutants have a negative impact on human health, contribute to premature deaths, and are the cause of various diseases. Over recent years, Europe’s air quality has largely improved due to several measures to reduce pollutant emissions. The following paper presents the impact of annual average PM2.5 and NO₂ concentrations on premature deaths in Poland in 2019. Exposure to PM2.5 caused more than 19 000 premature deaths, and exposure to NO₂ contributed to around 6000 premature deaths in 2019. Taking 2019 as a baseline, the impact of the envisaged implementation of the national Clean Air Programme on the number of premature deaths is analysed. Implementing the mitigation measures focused on replacing inefficient stoves and boilers in individual households would significantly improve air quality, mainly particulate matter. Reducing PM2.5 concentrations would reduce premature deaths by around 3000 cases, while for NO_2, the number of premature deaths would not change much.

High concentrations of air pollutants have adverse effects on our health. They cause various diseases related to the respiratory and circulatory systems, leading to premature deaths. This paper aims to assess changes in PM_2.5 and NO₂ concentrations and to estimate how many premature deaths were caused by the pollutants analysed. The analysis was performed for the period from 2010 to 2019, for the major cities of Poland. For the analysis, annual average concentrations of PM_2.5 and NO₂ calculated on the basis of measurements available from the National Air Quality Monitoring (JPOAT) service were used. Health exposure assessment was performed in the AirQ + tool, and factors for estimating health effects were used in accordance with the recommendation of the AirQ + tool authors. From 2010 to 2019, the average annual concentration of PM_2.5 in most studied cities decreased. During this period, the highest reduction in concentration occurred in Wrocław, Warsaw, and Poznań. In contrast, the annual average NO₂ concentrations remained similar in most analysed cities. The exceptions are Wroclaw, where a significant decrease occurred, and Katowice, where concentrations significantly increased. The highest number of premature deaths due to high PM_2.5 and NO₂ concentrations occurred in Katowice and Cracow. High concentrations of PM_2.5 in the analysed cities caused approximately 7–10% of premature deaths, while high concentrations of NO₂ accounted for approximately 5–8% of premature deaths. PM_2.5 concentrations showed a steady decreasing trend, while NO₂ concentrations showed a decreasing or increasing trend, depending on the city. PM_2.5 concentrations showed a much higher reduction than NO₂. The percentage of premature deaths due to long-term exposure to PM_2.5 has reduced by about 5% between 2010 and 2019, and due to NO₂ by about 2%, and has increased in some cities.